Fearless Lee
by SMK KMS
Summary: Is Lee as fearless as he seems? Don't want to give anything else away!


Disclaimers: The characters in this story are copyrighted by Warner Brothers and Shoot The Moon Productions. I make no money from these characters; I simply like to share their world for a short time.

Special thanks to clagjanet for her permission to include a reference to her "The Tail and the Tape;" it adds just the right amount of comic relief to the story!

A/N Just a little piece about Lee's irrational fears and how they've changed over the years. A special thanks to Bruce Boxleitner and Kate Jackson—as well as the rest of the cast—for portraying these characters so wonderfully.

It all began in Istanbul in 1981. Up until then, he had considered himself pretty much fearless.

He had been on the run from some Soviet agents and needed somewhere to hide; all the safe houses had been compromised. In a desperate move to avoid capture, he had entered the underground catacombs.

It was dark down in the ancient passageways. Wait . . . dark didn't begin to describe it. There was just enough light to reflect off the eyes of the rats. And there _were_ rats, millions of them it seemed. They tried to bite him. They scurried across his feet when he stood and all parts of his body when he lay down to try to rest. They squealed when he stepped on their long, hairless tails—something he couldn't avoid in the pitch black.

After almost a week in those horrid conditions with only brief excursions above ground for necessary food and water, he was finally able to permanently shake his pursuers. He was more than grateful to exit that particular version of hell. But for years he avoided the dark at all costs.

It was six years later now, and he still had an unhealthy aversion to rats and mice. After all, mice were just tiny rats, right? Squirrels were even suspect. Actually, any small, furry creature was regarded with trepidation. The mouse that had found its way into the Q Bureau recently had put him into a tailspin, no pun intended. Luckily Amanda had been there to take care of it. And with minimal teasing, he had to admit. A grown man, sitting on the back of the couch in an almost catatonic state over a little mouse. He certainly must have been a sight. Armed KGB agents didn't faze him; a tiny mouse was a different story entirely. Well, if anyone wanted to tease, that was fine. They weren't the ones that had spent three days in hell with the things!

His fear of the dark, however, had vanished a little while ago. He didn't need to keep a light burning in his room anymore, at least not when his wife spent the night! There were no nightmares, no terrors, no fear of the gloom when he held her close in his arms. She was perfection—beauty, brains, fearlessness, and compassion all wrapped up in one. And the best part was that she loved _him_ —Lee Stetson—with all her heart. How could he be afraid when she was in his arms?

As wonderful as those nights were, their love had sparked another fear inside of him—fear of the daylight. Now that was a new and different one! Logically, it didn't make a bit of sense. Then again, what in their lives did?

But daylight meant they would once again be working on potentially dangerous cases . . . cases where she could be injured, or worse . . . cases that might endanger her family . . . and as her training progressed, cases where she would be in ever-increasing danger. Hell, she was shot in broad daylight in California, and they weren't even on a mission!

Daylight also meant he could be sent on a mission without her. It would be bad enough to be working without her watching his back. But what if the mission was somewhere out of the country? What if it was an extended assignment? He could be gone for weeks or months at a time! What if it was "zero contact"? How would he ever survive that? He could barely stand being away from her for a few hours!

Most importantly, daylight meant that _his wife_ would have to go back to _her_ life and _her_ family at 4247 Maplewood. _He_ would have to go back to simply being the boyfriend. While Dotty and the boys were getting to know him, they didn't realize he was already part of the family. He couldn't hold her close in his arms in their presence—at least not the way he wanted to . . . the way he longed to . . . the way he _needed_ to. He couldn't even spend the dark night with her—not without a myriad of damn lies anyway.

They would have to paste masks on their faces at the Agency as well. After all, they were just partners. And partners didn't . . . well . . . you know . . .

If only he could slow down the night. If only he could stay there, in the dark, with her wrapped safely in his arms. But sooner or later the sun would come up . . . daylight.

Maybe it was time to end the secrecy and this crazy mystery marriage. They definitely needed to have a serious talk—and soon. Then maybe he could begin to get over at least this new, irrational fear.

Unfortunately, he didn't see a cure for his fear of big-eared, long-tailed creatures in the foreseeable future. He just hoped that, once their marriage was out in the open, Amanda didn't get the crazy idea to take a family vacation to Disney World.


End file.
